Change is in the Air: White House Holds first Passover Seder and Obama takes on Role as Mortgage Broker in Chief

Today, as many of my friends celebrate Good Friday and I continue to celebrate Passover, my office is a virtual ghost town. So I actually had a moment to take stock on changes that are occurring in our collective lives. First and foremost it is just hard to believe that the White House held a Passover Seder last night. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/obama-to-host-seder-dinner/ The Seder is the ceremonial meal whereby Jews retell their miraculous story of their departure from Egypt while having a rather long ceremonial meal conducted in a certain order. In some ways the Passover story can serve as an allegory for the Obama Administration in that just over a year ago it would have seemed that only by a “miracle” would we be sitting here right now with our first African American President.

Further, as someone deeply entrenched in the real estate economy, as a foreclosure defense lawyer and owner of Weston Title, I would never have envisioned a sitting President calling on homeowners to refinance their homes. And yesterday that is exactly what the President did! http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123932215927307049.html The President explained the low interest rate climate created by the Bailout and how families can actually create their own stimulus of the economy by pumping back the money they save through refinancing– directly into the economy.

But even before the President gave his three cheers to mortgage refinancing, we have been seeing an up tick in activity in the real estate market in general and in terms of banks contacting us to help them close their refinances. In fact, earlier in the week, I thought for a moment it was Christmas when all the phone lights on my office phone were lit up like a Christmas Tree. I had to use my cell phone to call out of the office.

The buyers who are closing are bottom fishers looking for great deals from short sales, foreclosures, builder specs and generally first time home buyers who have now concluded that buying is cheaper than renting. Some high end buyers are anticipating a wave of inflation that may be here sooner than any one can imagine.

So with all the change that is going on… one thing that has not changed– and will not change is how capitalistic market forces that are merely reflections of our collective greed and fear are working well once again.

Have a great weekend!